The Jones County Junior College freshman committed to the Rebels just a few hours after they offered.

“They were consistent on keeping up with me and just checking me and getting to know me,” Winters said. “I felt like it was a good fit for me here. I just felt like it was one of the best schools for D-linemen. That’s what I feel like I can benefit from.”

Winters has two years’ worth of eligibility and plans to enroll at Ole Miss next January. Coach Hugh Freeze said the team planned to pursue early enrollees in the 2017 recruiting class. The Rebels signed just two defensive linemen in their 2016 class.

Brown is the No. 85 offensive tackle and No. 803 player overall, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rating. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound held five other offers, choosing the Rebels over Missouri, Southern Miss and Vanderbilt, among others.

"I feel like I have to personally recruit 12-15 guys in order to beat a Nick Saban who may call the parent one time," Freeze told CBS Sports. "They may still beat us. We're winning our share now, but it's taking an enormous amount of work to do. Will that ever change? It has ... some."

After a landmark recruiting class in 2013 that included Nkemdiche, Tunsil, Laquon Treadwell and Tony Conner (which one of them is not like the others), Freeze has consistently recruited well to Oxford. His recruiting prowess has helped Ole Miss to back-to-back premier bowl games (Peach and Sugar) and wins over Alabama in the last two seasons.

The recruiting success has also earned Ole Miss considerable backlash and the program is the subject of an NCAA investigation.

One Mississippi high school football coach took to Twitter Wednesday to voice his frustration over Ole Miss not offering scholarships to his players.

St. Stanislaus coach Bill Conides tweeted, "Dear @OleMissFB thanks for not offering my kids. I can't wait for their teams to schedule you in the future. Get ready to get skull-drug."

In case you are wondering, skulldrug is another term for a beatdown. According to urban dictionary, it is the act of one being dragged by the neck, jaw, skullpiece or hair by another person or object.

"When you feel like your kid has been taken for a ride, you need to call it out," Conides said. "I wasn't trying to be mean or anything like that. If it means that none of my kids go to Ole Miss, then so be it."

St. Stanislaus quarterback Myles Brennan is rated as a three-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite. He has 15 offers to play at the next level, including one from Memphis and also has interest from Oklahoma State. St. Stanislaus tight end Chase Rogers is verbally committed to Tennessee and picked up an offer Wednesday from Mississippi State.

Brennan passed for 5,248 yards, 53 touchdowns and eight interceptions in leading the Rock-a-Chaws to a second-consecutive appearance in the Class 4A championship. Rogers led the team with 81 catches for 1,462 yards and 19 touchdowns.

"Why is that Wisconsin, California and Memphis and all these schools have come here, checked them out and recruited them," Conides said. "Why haven't they done that?"

Ole Miss lost out on its top quarterback target in the Class of 2017 Monday, as four-star quarterback Tristan Gebbia committed to Nebraska.

The nation’s eighth-best pro-style quarterback, who visited Ole Miss last weekend, chose the Cornhuskers over the Rebels despite being an Ole Miss legacy. Both of Gebbia’s parents attended Ole Miss, and his father, Rich, played tight end for the Rebels.

Ole Miss will now likely turn its attention towards four-star Tua Tagovailoa, who is rated as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in our nation.

Tuitt, who is from Tyrone, Ga., held offers from several big programs, including in-state schools UGA and Georgia Tech, but it was the family atmosphere he felt during his visits to Oxford, Miss., that ultimately drove him to pick Hugh Freeze‘s team.

Q: Which head coach of a team that you did not sign with was the nicest?

A: Mark Richt.

Q: Which coach was not the nicest?

A: Nick Saban. There was just something about his attitude that just bugged me.

Q: If you could give a junior only one piece of advice about the recruiting process, what would it be?

A: Make $ure you visit everywhere just to find the right feel for where you really want to go

When Dabney committed to MSU in December, he did so partially because his connection to former Bulldogs coach and current Jackson State head coach Tony Hughes. Dabney is the son of Emanuel Dabney, Sr., who played for Hughes at Hinds Community College.

Ole Miss has emerged as a school Dabney is interested in, he said. The consensus three-star prospect added that the Rebels’ recruiting efforts toward him have intensified lately.

Starkville's Willie Gay (@WillieYRN) has made it clear: He is no longer committed to Ole Miss

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Starkville four-star 2017 linebacker announced Monday morning that he is no longer committed to Ole Miss.

Gay, the state's top defensive prospect and one of the country's top-rated linebackers, said he will likely make a final decision on National Signing Day, giving Mississippi a compelling storyline to monitor the next couple of months.

The move is not overly surprising because over the past few days, Gay had said he was committed to the Rebels, but open to other programs. What’s more, as recent as Thursday, he said Ole Miss may not be the school he signs with in February.

Gay scheduled and released his five official visits before the season.

He went to Michigan over the weekend for his first one and told The Clarion-Ledger on Sunday, “I fell in love.”

Michigan is now Gay's top school, he said.

He plans to check out Florida State on Oct. 29, Mississippi State on Nov. 5, Florida on Nov. 12 and Ole Miss for the Egg Bowl on Nov. 26.

Ole Miss is still somewhat in the mix, Gay said, but, regardless, this is a significant loss for the Rebels. Four players have now decommitted from Ole Miss since September and no player has committed to the Rebels since early August. Gay thanked the Ole Miss coaching staff in a post on Twitter announcing his decommitment.

Gay was the first and only four-star prospect to commit to Ole Miss after the Notice of Allegations was released.

Brenden Williams, who had 89 total tackles this past season, announced Saturday he is verbally committed to Ole Miss while on an official visit at the school. Williams, who is able to play three seasons for the Rebels, can sign on Wednesday, the day JUCO players are eligible to do so.

Ole Miss also added a JUCO quarterback commit Saturday night.

Jordan Ta'amu out of New Mexico Military Institute, who is rated as the nation's No. 3 dual-threat JUCO quarterback in the 2017 class by the 247Sports Composite, announced his commitment one hour after Williams.

Adding Ta'amu, who completed 198-of-334 passes for 3,014 yards, 32 touchdowns against eight interceptions, was imperative. The three-star prospect joins Alex Faniel, another three-star out of Virginia, as quarterbacks committed behind Shea Patterson. Ole Miss is also still in the mix for St. Stanislaus’ Myles Brennan, and the [mystery] offensive coordinator hire may impact the situation.

“That place is really beautiful,” he told Greg Power$. “It is a beautiful campus. It has a real homey feel to it for a Plano kid. There are a lot of people from the Dallas area that I just knew walking around and that was kind of cool. There was a lot of people from around the Plano area like Frisco and McKinney.”

"All through recruiting, they kept me updated," Harris said of the Ole Miss coaching staff. "They said that we could possibly get a bowl ban. I said, 'This is my school. I want to come here. I know the risk of coming here that we could be banned from a bowl.'"

Harris said that Ole Miss coaches also kept his family updated throughout the recruiting proce$$.

.@AnnieCostabile had reaction from some commits about Matt Luke's hire tonight(https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/934985911267418112/m4YNz_PR?format=jpg&name=600x314) (https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/934996533593780224)

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Following the departure of Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss' recruitment took a major hit and Mississippi State capitalized on it. With a permanent man in place and one that has such a passion for Ole Miss football program, things could change pretty quickly.

One thing is certain, though: the members of the 2018 recruiting class are thrilled Luke will be the man in charge permanently.

"I think it's great," Wayne County defensive tackle Quentin Bivens said. "I'm excited for him. I think he's a great coach and will be a great head coach at Ole Miss."

The future Ole Miss players share the same opinions of Luke. This is the guy they wanted.

When Ole Miss announced @CoachMattLuke as its permanent head coach @taystandifer knew it was where he belonged. #RecruitingReport (https://twitter.com/AnnieCostabile/status/937850516662611975)

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Tupelo defensive back Tavario Standifer decided Monday morning Ole Miss was where he'd play college football. He's a junior but he said all he needed was for the program to announce Matt Luke was its head coach and then he'd be ready to commit.

It was no secret the current players on the Ole Miss football team wanted Luke as their head coach. Following their 31-28 victory over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, players tweeted at Athletic Director Ross Bjork saying Luke was who they wanted permanently.

That Sunday he was named head coach.

Recruits have been reacting the same way current players have, with pure joy. Now Standifer credits it as the reason for his early commitment.

Spoke with @GregBiggins, Trent Dilfer and two opposing high school coaches to hear what Ole Miss is getting with Matt Corral(https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/941817699570552832/3hNB31M9?format=jpg&name=600x314) (https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/941817698761052161)

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One opposing coach still remembers the uneasiness that came with coaching against Matt Corral in a playoff game last year.

“During the game, he scares the hell out of you," said Frank Mazzotta, who coaches La Habra High School in California. "He’s so athletic, he’s a physical kid, he can run and he’s got a cannon.”

All of those traits are why Corral, a U.S. Army All-American, is rated as the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the country, per the 247Sports Composite, and the No. 60 player overall in the 2018 recruiting cycle.

On Thursday night, he announced his commitment to Ole Miss and gave the Rebels their first high-profile commitment under Matt Luke. Corral is expected to sign next week and enroll in January.

A look at the 15 Ole Miss signees(https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/942654574728499200/BK0Ouxpl?format=jpg&name=600x314) (https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/943632326172577793)

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Ole Miss coach Matt Luke put together the majority of his first recruiting class on Wednesday.

The Rebels signed 15 players and aim to sign eight or nine more by the end of this recruiting cycle.

This class is headlined by four-star quarterback Matt Corral, four-star receiver Elijah Moore and three-star defensive end James Williams. Ole Miss checked in at 35th nationally and 12th in the SEC, as of Wednesday afternoon...

Lee-Montgomery's Kevontae Ruggs -- the younger brother of Alabama receiver Henry Ruggs III -- committed to Ole Miss, according to multiple reports. Texas A&M and Florida Atlantic were also major players in Ruggs' recruitment, while Alabama, West Virginia and Louisville also showed interest.

Kevontae Ruggs, who played linebacker and receiver for Lee-Montgomery, is expected to sign on Feb. 7.

After its three recent commitments, Ole Miss is 33rd in the 247 composite team rankings(https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/957560072883798016/ptwPXmvv?format=jpg&name=600x314) (https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/958134667777138691)

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Ole Miss picked up three commitments in a 24-hour span from Sunday to Monday. Three-star JUCO defensive tackle Noah Jefferson, the No. 8 JUCO defensive tackle prospect in the nation, committed to the Rebels Monday night.

Hamilton Hall, a three-star offensive lineman from Georgia, announced his pledge to Ole Miss Monday morning. On Sunday, three-star Alabama linebacker Kevontae' Ruggs committed to Ole Miss, which officially signed 15 players during the early signing period.

Ole Miss puts the finishing touches on its 2018 class on an uneventful signing day (https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/961609646556491777)

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OXFORD — With the advent of the early signing period in December, national signing day has lost most of the drama that made it what it was.

There wasn't much of it on Wednesday as Ole Miss put the finishing touches on its 2018 recruiting class.

"It is different because it makes this day a little bit less when you sign almost double in the first signing period," Matt Luke said. "But it does give you the ability of this is what we didn't get, this is what we need to focus on. Overall, I didn't think it was that big of a difference.

"Being the first time, we'll learn a little bit. Again, next year we'll try to finish our whole class on the front end."

Luke addressed the media at 2 p.m., broke down the positions one-by-one and said the Rebels filled their needs. Ole Miss was in the mix for some highly-touted players — such as four-star offensive lineman Tank Jenkins (Texas A&M) and four-star receivers Marquez Ezzard (Miami) and Tommy Bush (Georgia) — who decided to sign elsewhere.

Rebels were No. 30 in the 247Sports Composite ratings as of late Wednesday afternoon.

For reference, Hugh Freeze's first recruiting class ranked 48th in 2012, and Houston Nutt's checked in at No. 31 in 2008.

Ole Miss signed seven players on Wednesday, which brings its total to 22 for this class. Six of those players were committed coming into the day, linebacker Luke Knox being the most recent among them.

Pearl's Tylan Knight, a two-star athlete, flipped from Louisiana and signed with the Rebels. Luke said the 5-foot-7, 170-pound Knight, whose recruiting process has been well documented, is probably the "steal of the class."

Just a day after the Rebels finalized their 2018 recruiting class, coach Matt Luke and Ole Miss earned a commitment from a highly-touted 2019 receiver: JaVonta Payton.

Payton committed to Ole Miss for the second time in his career on Thursday afternoon. He originally signed with the Rebels in the class of 2017 before going the JUCO route and landing at Northwest Mississippi.